Family Fun Day

Since today is Saturday, it’s Family Fun Day, right?  We had such a fabulous Family Fun Day last Saturday.  I (and Levi, too) got a one-day fishing license and Joey and the kids (including Amelia and Stephen and Clara and Levi — so ALL of my kids) headed out to Victoria Springs State Park for some fishing.  The weather was absolutely perfect, cool with a slight breeze, but not too cool.  There were very few annoying insects.  There were plenty of fishing spots.  AND the fish were biting!  All together, we caught — and released — twenty fish.  It was a total blast.  Everyone who wanted to caught at least one fish, which made for a successful day on that front.  Tim alone caught seven.  Margaret had success in one particular spot, so when Eleanor and Lydia had not caught anything by the time we were going to call it quits to make some s’mores, I cast out to that spot for each of them and they each reeled in a fish on the first try.

Have I mentioned that I love fishing?  This could not have been more fun for me.  At one point, I was lying on my back, looking up at the blue sky through the shimmering leaves of a huge old cottonwood tree and one of the kids asked, “How are you, mom?”  And I said, “Perfectly content.”  I had Joey and ALL of the kids right there with me, on a perfectly gorgeous day, participating in an activity that I thoroughly enjoy, in a location that holds dear memories of fishing with my grandparents.  Ah.

After fishing, we made s’mores (of course, I didn’t eat any, but that’s OK) and then played “Prey and Predator.”  Victoria Springs is a great place to play “Prey and Predator” because it has so many beautifully spaced, large cottonwoods on a huge, mowed lawn.  (In case you have never played “Prey and Predator,” it involves someone being “It” and standing, immobile, in one spot, closing his eyes and counting to ten while everyone else runs as far away from “It” as possible and hides behind something — like a huge old cottonwood — before he finishes counting and opens his eyes.  If “It” can see anyone from his vantage point, even a shirt sleeve, he can call that person out and, the next round, that person can help him spot the hiders.  The goal is to keep running and hiding closer to “It” each time he counts until you can run in and touch him while he is counting with his eyes still closed.  Totally fun.)

At one point, Stephen had Lydia on his back, Joey was carrying Charlotte and I had Anne, who had eaten her fair share of s’mores.  Since I was running as fast as I could throughout the game, Anne and her stomach full of s’mores were getting jostled pretty thoroughly.  I decided that maybe she needed to sit out for the next several rounds when a HUGE burp eminated from her petite frame.  I definitely did not want to deal with more than a burp from her.

So, this week, I knew I couldn’t “top” last week’s event, and that was OK.  I decided that we would head to our local library and then to one of our parks in town.  We don’t often spend a leisurely amount of time at our local library, so it would be considered “fun” for sure.

Well, due to Joey’s concussion episode on Wednesday, we missed an appointment for Anne to get casted for some new AFOs.  I was able to reschedule her appointment for yesterday and I determined to take advantage of this unplanned little trip and make FRIDAY Family Fun Day.  (Alas, Joey couldn’t participate, but, then again, he is still recovering….)  We ate at a restaurant for which all six of the younger kids had free kids’ meal coupons for participating in the library’s summer reading program.  That was fun!  Then, we went to a park that has a very nice, wheelchair accessible playground.  Additionally, there is an observation tower that the kids are always begging to visit (not wheelchair accessible when the elevator is locked), so we made a run to the top.  Also, fun!  And there is a lake, so Tim attempted some birding.

So, since we’ve already had our “family fun” outing for this week, what shall we do today?

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